Pentagon: No scheduled deployment from Fort Carson soon

Sep. 14, 2017

FORT CARSON, Colo. (AP) — The Pentagon on Thursday denied a statement by a former high-ranking Army official that more than 6,000 soldiers from Fort Carson, Colorado, will be deployed to Afghanistan.

Patrick Murphy, who was acting secretary of the Army under former President Barack Obama, said in a speech at Fort Carson on Thursday that two units from 4th Infantry Division were headed to Afghanistan, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported (http://bit.ly/2h4qj6A ).

Army Col. Pat Seiber said later that no scheduled deployments are imminent for soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division.

It wasn't immediately clear what Murphy had based his statement on.

The United States currently has 11,000 troops in Afghanistan, and officials have said the U.S. plans to send as many as 3,900 more.

Most of the additional troops sent so far have been members of units already in Afghanistan or units that were already planning to deploy.

The Pentagon usually announces routine deployments of troops rotating into combat zones several months in advance.

Another 4th Infantry Division unit, the 3rd Brigade, is expected to return to Fort Carson soon after a deployment to Europe.